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To clarify...I am a nj tenant who has rented my home for 14 years. In the 14 years I have been a tenant my landlord has not given me the proper notice required by law as to how he handled my deposit nor has he ever paid me any interest the entire time I have been his tenant.i in July 2013 I sent him a certified letter requesting this info or fo him to pay me the interest owed on my deposit amount of 1875.00 in response to that letter he sent me a list of repairs he has had to make while I was a tenant and that I "had no security Money left ."he did not or has never paid the interest due to me on my deposit.a month later I sent the LL another certified letter telling the LL to use the whole deposit PLUS 7percent interest per year to pay any future or back rent. My LL states that there is a clause in my lease which I signed that states" no interest on security shall be paid on months the tennant is late with the rent". Is this a legal basis for the LL to keep my interest I've earned on my deposit? One more question.... What is 7 percent of 1875.00 over 14 years?! I'm not sure how to figure that out! Thank u so much !
To clarify...I am a nj tenant who has rented my home for 14 years. In the 14 years I have been a tenant my landlord has not given me the proper notice required by law as to how he handled my deposit nor has he ever paid me any interest the entire time I have been his tenant.i in July 2013 I sent him a certified letter requesting this info or fo him to pay me the interest owed on my deposit amount of 1875.00 in response to that letter he sent me a list of repairs he has had to make while I was a tenant and that I "had no security Money left ."he did not or has never paid the interest due to me on my deposit.a month later I sent the LL another certified letter telling the LL to use the whole deposit PLUS 7percent interest per year to pay any future or back rent. My LL states that there is a clause in my lease which I signed that states" no interest on security shall be paid on months the tennant is late with the rent". Is this a legal basis for the LL to keep my interest I've earned on my deposit? One more question.... What is 7 percent of 1875.00 over 14 years?! I'm not sure how to figure that out! Thank u so much !
So for many years it didn't concern you at all that your LL apparently didn't keep your security deposit in an interest-bearing account as he's apparently required to do under your state law. You do realize that the interest, even if it was deposited, is incredibly minimal and amounts to only a mere couple of dollars a year?
I'm curious why you would send a letter to your LL telling him to, "to use the whole deposit PLUS 7percent interest per year to pay any future or back rent". This seems to indicate (unless I'm misreading) that you have a current issue with your LL about unpaid rent. If that's the case then best you start looking at how to become current on your rent without worrying about your security deposit. Once you leave, your LL has a certain amount of time in accordance with your state law during which he has to return that deposit less itemized deductions. A security deposit isn't rent and can't be used as an offset unless by court order in most states.
Maybe I'm wrong but it seems to me that, for whatever reason, you've got behind on your rent and this has been happening for a while. And you're looking for a legal loophole to get yourself out of a bit of a mess.
Probably best that you go to Legal Aid in your area and see what they say. Good luck.
It doesn't have to be for past due rent. Although it is a bit confusing. Here is what it says about deposits in NJ.
If the person receiving a security deposit fails to invest or deposit the security money in the
manner required under this section or to provide the notice or pay the interest to the tenant as
required under this subsection, the tenant may give written notice to that person that such
security money plus an amount representing interest at the rate of seven percent per annum be
applied on account of rent payment or payments due or to become due from the tenant, and
thereafter the tenant shall be without obligation to make any further security deposit and the
person receiving the money so deposited shall not be entitled to make further demand for a
security deposit. However, in the case of a failure by the person receiving the security deposit to
pay the annual interest or to provide the annual notice at the time of the annual interest payment,
if the annual notice is not also serving as a notice of change of account or institution, before the
tenant may apply the security deposit plus interest on account of the rent payment or payments
due or to become due on the part of the tenant, the tenant shall first give that person a written
notice of his failure and shall allow that person 30 days from the mailing date or hand delivery of
this notice to comply with the annual interest payment or annual notice, or both.
My LL states that there is a clause in my lease which I signed that states" no interest on security shall be paid on months the tennant is late with the rent". Is this a legal basis for the LL to keep my interest I've earned on my deposit?
It appears you have covered all the bases and can proceed legally as allowed by law if you like. As to the above question, 46:8-24 voids any provisions of a lease that changes anything from the security deposit law, so it appears that provision in the lease is void.
To clarify...I am a nj tenant who has rented my home for 14 years. In the 14 years I have been a tenant my landlord has not given me the proper notice required by law as to how he handled my deposit nor has he ever paid me any interest the entire time I have been his tenant.i in July 2013 I sent him a certified letter requesting this info or fo him to pay me the interest owed on my deposit amount of 1875.00 in response to that letter he sent me a list of repairs he has had to make while I was a tenant and that I "had no security Money left ."he did not or has never paid the interest due to me on my deposit.a month later I sent the LL another certified letter telling the LL to use the whole deposit PLUS 7percent interest per year to pay any future or back rent. My LL states that there is a clause in my lease which I signed that states" no interest on security shall be paid on months the tennant is late with the rent". Is this a legal basis for the LL to keep my interest I've earned on my deposit? One more question.... What is 7 percent of 1875.00 over 14 years?! I'm not sure how to figure that out! Thank u so much !
Quote:
My LL states that there is a clause in my lease which I signed that states" no interest on security shall be paid on months the tennant is late with the rent". Is this a legal basis for the LL to keep my interest I've earned on my deposit?
I do not know if that clause is "legal" but why rely on him to tell you what is in your lease? Do you not know where your lease is? Maybe that is why you don't know where your security deposit is either?
Were you still a tenant as of July 2013?
Did you sent him a letter requesting itemized damages as to why you received no security + interest back?
The repairs made while you were a tenant can't be deducted from your security if they were no fault of your own. Did you or a housemate kick a door in? Did a door just fall off of it's hinges one day? Did a light fixture just fall from the ceiling due to gravity or did someone hit it with a baseball bat? Did your blinds get broken and bent up because faeries do funny things like that, or did you, your child/pet/guest mess the blinds up? Did your toilet back up because you live down hill of a major street that had sewage issues or did tree roots encroach on the sewer line or did you flush all of your garbage down the toilet?
Huge difference.
So let's say none of the damage done to the residence over 14 years was anything other than normal wear and tear and age of the property, why are you concerned about back or future rent?
Did you pay your rent on time and every month of 14 years? If not, did you incur a late fee? Is that part of the reason you are NOT getting your security deposit back in full?
Rent doesn't cover repair due to damages, the security deposit does, and any tenant damage during occupation of the premises should be taken care of and billed immediately to tenant (that is above and beyond normal wear and tear) and if not paid, will normally be withheld from the security. For instance, if my tenants do not pay the fines they incur from outside sources that are billed to the LLC during their tenancy (and passed on to the tenants), I will deduct it from their security deposit upon end of lease.
Check your lease, just to be sure you didn't miss the part where the LL told you where your security deposit was being held. I hear that more than I care to yet when I point it out to them (half of them don't even know where their lease is), I get a "oh...hmmm. I missed that".
Here's how you do the math:
Year one: 7% of $1875 = $131.25. So year #2 deposit + interest would equal ($1875 + $131.25) $2006.25, and year 3 deposit + interest would equal $2006.25 + 7% =$2150.00-ish. Year 4 deposit would equal $2150-ish +7% (7%of $2150)...and it goes on.
If anyone cares to check my math, I welcome it and will never pretend to be a math whiz.
So let's say none of the damage done to the residence over 14 years was anything other than normal wear and tear and age of the property, why are you concerned about back or future rent?
I don't think they are talking about the security deposit being retuned at the end of the lease. This appears to be a case of the landlord failing to follow NJ security deposit law and the tenant is smart enough to know the law and is using it to their advantage. They seem to be folowing exactly the steps the law outlines and since the landlord has now failed to obey the law, the tenat is demanding the security despoist be applied to the rent along with interest. Thats within the tenants right if a landlord did violate the law.
Quote:
Originally Posted by JerseyG
Check your lease, just to be sure you didn't miss the part where the LL told you where your security deposit was being held. I hear that more than I care to yet when I point it out to them (half of them don't even know where their lease is), I get a "oh...hmmm. I missed that".
Great point. However, once the landlord receibed the demand letter to disclose, they should have responded with the information even if just to referthe person back to the lease. Failing to respond with the information, coupled with tryog to use some repair cost and such, well that is a good indiaction they messed up.
This is a prime example of why landlords should never underestimate their tenants because in this case its clear the tenant is following a step by step process for getting their security desposit back along with a 7% interest over those 14 years.
I received a notice detailing the yearly increase on the anniversary of my lease and didn't notice the part about possibly losing my security deposit without 30 days written notice to the landlord. Is that possible based on just lack of notice even though I intend to leave at the end of the month?
I received a notice detailing the yearly increase on the anniversary of my lease and didn't notice the part about possibly losing my security deposit without 30 days written notice to the landlord. Is that possible based on just lack of notice even though I intend to leave at the end of the month?
Your lease ends at the end of Nov, as in a couple days? I believe NJ has a law that prohibits auto renewals on leases which means you can legally return the property at the end of the term without notice. You need to go find that law it will be the thing that trumps any lease provision that requires you to give 30 day notice.
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